31 Themes Challenge!
by Naura Magdalene
Summary: 31 little stories about Luffy and his Nakama and family. Each theme contains a completely different setting. This is to gain experience and get better in my writing skills, so reviews, advice and follows are much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**31 Themes Writing Challenge:**

Hello all! I'm having trouble writing Brothers' Rebellion again, so a friend recommended to do a challenge first ,so I get more experience and ideas. Well, Here is what I am going to do: I am going to write about a Theme (See list below for all the themes). These little stories will be based on One Piece. I hope y'all will enjoy it along with me! I will update them randomly because of school and such! ^^

1. Winter

2. Water

3. Walk Away

4. The Soul

5. The Muse

6. The Body

7. Summer

8. Spring

9. Snowflakes

10. Silhouettes

11. Sickly

12. Sand Storm

13. Lava

14. Inspiration

15. Historical

16. Good Witch

17. Fire

18. Energy

19. Elemental

20. Earth

21. Desert

22. Demon

23. Colors

24. Cleanse & Purge

25. Chaos

26. Blood

27. Autumn

28. Air

29. A Sonnet

30. A Relived Day

31. A Meeting/ A Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, as you all know..**

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><p><em>1: Winter. <em>

It wasn't even winter, and yet snow was already falling and the days were getting colder and colder. I put on my shawl and thick, warm gloves and take my backpack along with me. I open the door and call out to Nojiko that I am leaving. Wind and snow is blowing in my face when I want to walk outside. I cross my arms as shivers are being send up my spine. I already have Goosebumps on my cheeks. I close the door and stroll through the snow to the bus stop. I wish I could be there already. Winter is nothing for me. I prefer the warm sun and sweet taste of tangerines when they finally fall from Bellemere's trees. We own a small farm and sell the fruit. They're very famous in the town and everyone loves them. Bellemere is my mother. We are not related by blood, but we treasure each other just as much as any other family would do. Nojiko is my older sister. We were taken in by Bellemere when we were still very young. I was only a baby. But right now there are no tangerines and there is definitely no warm weather coming up. Don't get me wrong, I like wearing sweaters and drinking hot chocolate, especially when my friends are around and we watch a comedy, which is kind of impossible with _my _kind of friends, since they are so energetic. It's just that winter is fun until Christmas is over. After that, the long wait for Spring starts. Especially when the snow starts melting and becomes hard after a few days. That's the terrible part I really dislike about this season.

When the bus arrives I step in and hold my card before the small panel that checks you in. If you're still studying and have to travel by bus or train to get to school, then you'll get a student card which allows you to travel for free. It has its advantages, for example: I can go shopping wherever I want in this country. I take a seat in the front and turn on my Ipod. My hands are already freezing from only being five minutes outside. I wrap my shawl tighter around my neck and mouth to feel my warm breath against my skin. It comforts me and I warm up slowly, but surely. After twenty minutes I click on a button that gives the signal that I want to get out at the next bus stop. I check out and face the snow once again. It's a ten minute walk and I can't wait until I can warm up once inside the house. I turn off my Ipod on the way and hide it in one of my boots.

I knock on the door, loudly, because the three brothers living here always like to shake up the entire neighborhood. They can't really help it, well, the two older brothers at least, the little brother however is just a plain simpleton with a loud voice.

One of the older brothers called Ace opens the door and starts smirking immediately. '' Hey Ice Queen. You're early, only Koala, Marco and Sanji are here to help out. Don't tell me our sweet Nami was actually worried? '' He holds his hand sarcastically before his mouth as if he is surprised.

I roll my eyes and push him out of the way so I can get in. He has a point. I don't particularly care about whatever they do with their lives. It's only Luffy that always manages to worry me. If Luffy didn't have his friends and brothers, then god knows what might have become of him. I always need to lead the way for him and make sure he doesn't forget his lunch for school, since the two responsible ones tend to oversleep themselves almost every day. I could go on for hours on how to take care of Luffy, but there are only three words that can actually explain it accurate: It is impossible. You never know what to expect of him, so I always look like the mean Ice Queen around him, but that's just because he stresses me out and needs a hard hand from at least one person to be able to control him even a little.

'' Why aren't you wearing a t-shirt at least in this cold weather?! '' I call out to the freckled man. I'm feeling cold all over again just looking at him.

'' Because it's warm here inside the house. You know I don't mind cold weather at all. '' He closes the door and runs his hand through his black hair.

I shake my head and walk into the living room. Luffy is sitting on the dark red carpet, playing on his Nintendo 3DS. He's playing the newest release of the Anime: One Piece. It's Luffy most favorite Anime and Manga from the famous author: Eiichiro Oda. The other two brothers love reading and watching it too, just like Nami and their other comrades.

Luffy is wearing a sweater in the same color as the carpet with dark blue jeans and plain flip-flops. Luffy is kind of casual in his clothing, stylish, but not outstanding. There is one thing that no one will ever be able to take away from him. Ever. That's his Strawhat. He calls it: Mugi. It means Straw or something in Japanese. He always wears it, no matter what season, day or mood. Strangely enough, it really fits him and his clothing style.

It makes him a little different from the rest.

Scratch that.

It makes him unique.

His godfather gave it to him twelve years ago. It's always been very precious to him and so he asked Luffy to take care of it until Shanks would come back from the war abroad. He's an important fellow in the army and hasn't come back ever since he gave Luffy the Strawhat. It's kind of sad, and yet everyone is shouldering hope. Especially Luffy. His cheerful, happy and positive personality always makes you happy. And that's why you don't want to see him angry either. Because when Luffy gets angry, you should most likely run as far away as possible. Only one person managed to damage the hat. He knows Shanks but kind of hates him, so when Luffy mentioned that the hat is actually Shanks' hat, he lost it and cut it. Why would a person walk around with a knife? Yeah. Ask the clown for that. We never got to know the reason either. He's probably just mad or something. Luffy punched him right in the face and Zoro and I managed to pull him back before the police would find out. Luffy was really sad afterwards about the hat, so I sewed it for him. Seeing that little smile playing across his lips with a tear in his eyes was a little touching…but don't tell him! He'll laugh at me for the rest of my life if I ever admit that.

Oh, and Zoro is one of our comrades. He's a little strange and hard to deal with, but you can't have a friend more loyal than him. Alcohol is apparently his love life and he doesn't have a sense of direction AT ALL. Not to mention that he has green hair.. like.. how is that even possible? But ah well, thanks to his hair he received the nickname Mosshead from another comrade called Sanji.

Luffy looks up when I walk towards him and I greet him by holding up my hand.

'' Nami! Did you bring the food? '' He pauses the game and takes my rucksack. He takes out all the food and I have to bump him on his head to remind him that it's my backpack. I put back my purse and my small makeup bag and take out the snacks and beer instead.

Luffy wants to start on it already but he receives another bump on his head from Ace. '' And what do we say when someone gives us food Luffy? '' He leans over Luffy and meets up with his eyes.

Luffy looks troubled for a moment but bows his head towards me and thanks me for the food.

'' Easy as that right? '' Ace smirks and takes the snacks and beer to the kitchen where the other older brother and his girlfriend called Koala are preparing the feast.

'' So, when are the others coming? '' I sit on the sofa and cross my legs on it. My feet aren't cold anymore and the warm house with the familiar scent makes me feel comfortable.

Luffy answers while staring through the door opening at the kitchen. '' They should be here soon. Looks like Sabo is almost finished after all! If they don't hurry up, then I'll eat everything. '' A little drool rolls out of the corner of his mouth.

I sigh. '' Can't you think of something else just for once? ''

Luffy smiles and shakes his head.

We play some time on the Nintendo when the door bell rings and Ace opens the door for the rest of the comrades we were waiting for.

While it's cold outside, we make it warm inside by gathering on a Friday night. Everyone brings something to eat or drink and we talk, watch and drink to our hearts' content until the early morning.

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><p>Well, this is the first theme! I don't know when the next one will be up, so followreview and I hope you enjoyed it!

The clown is Buggy btw, for those who didn't notice. :3


	2. Chapter 2

**Oohh I got followers, thank you! I loved writing the first Theme, so here's the second one. Enjoy!  
>One more thing: This is based on the Dutch student life. Sabo and Koala rent a room inside a house. They are allowed by the House Boss to use the bathroom, kitchen and hall etc.<strong>

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><p><em>2: Water<em>

It's still too early in the morning to get up. The sun hasn't risen just yet, so I try to close my eyes and get some more sleep before I have to prepare for classes. I own a 'room' together with my girlfriend Koala. As soon as we were accepted at the university, we decided to move together and rent a room. Most students do that here, and you don't have to travel much every day. I stay here during the weekdays and then after the last class on Friday I go back to the village to my brothers. Renting a room has both its advantages and disadvantages. You don't have to abide by the rules set by your caretakers, not that we ever listened to anyone, but ah well, it's still different. Except if you include Koala's rules. She hates dirt and cleans the room almost every day. There is not even a little bit of dust to be found. She makes me clean a lot too. That's one of the disadvantages I was talking about. You have to do everything yourself. When I still lived with my brothers, our step-mum Dadan always used to take care of everything. We never really listened to her and at some point she gave up trying and let us do whatever we want.

Another disadvantage is that you have to prepare the food yourself. I'm the one who takes care of the groceries, you have no idea how many times I came back with the wrong stuff, I mean c'mon.. Food is life. I can't resist all those snacks waiting for me to be eaten.. It's not like we're poor anyway. We both have a weekend job and the money students receive from the government to be able to pay for school. Not to mention that she expects me to remember every single thing I have to buy!

One little advantage is that I don't have my little brother bouncing on my bed every morning screaming I have to wake up and prepare breakfast for him. Yes. I am talking about Sweet little Luffy. His puppy eyes and messy hair is sometimes his biggest weapon. Many people can't say 'no' to him because of his innocence. He's innocent, really, but just a plain idiot. He even made a teacher once pulling out her hair and quitting her job because he simply couldn't understand what she was trying to tell him. He couldn't help it.. and yet he received detention from the principal during High school. The poor guy just didn't get what he did wrong and said it wasn't his fault that the teacher went mad. He is kinda right, but you get my point now right?

As I said, I go back during the weekend to stay with them and Koala goes to her adoptive father Jinbei. And man, he can be scary. When Koala wanted to introduce me the first time, I didn't know what to expect. I walked in and he was, like, sitting there, cross legged in some sort of Japanese dress for men and with his eyes closed, like he was meditating or something. Turned out he was asleep in the end, but it still made some strange impression about him! After going through that 'What do you want from my daughter' interview he started to treat me as his own son. He even visits Luffy and Ace sometimes. Luffy really likes and respects him a lot.

We are planning to go swimming this weekend, just the three of us. Luffy has been waiting for this moment for weeks and Ace is excited too. We're planning to go in the early morning to the beach and start with morning exercises. After that, we eat some breakfast at a nearby café and spend the day on the beach. Luffy thinks he can hold out the longest in a swimming marathon, so we made a bet. The loser has to pay dinner.

I rub my eyes, annoyed I can't seem to fall asleep any longer and gently take off my arms that are wrapped around Koala's waist. Quietly, I get up and sneak into the bathroom. I take a long, cold shower and put on a blue shirt with black jeans. When I finish I go downstairs and prepare breakfast for two. I bake some eggs with bacon and warm the bread in the oven for about five minutes. After that I hear the alarm upstairs, so that means Koala will be up by now. I take two glasses and juice and put them on the dinner table.

While I wait for Koala to finish preparing, I check my phone. I've got one message from Luffy who has sent an image of the breakfast he and Ace made themselves. Their bacon is half burnt and I notice a plaster around Luffy's thumb. I sigh and put my phone back in my pocket, smiling. Tomorrow is the first day in two months we are going to spend the day on the beach. It's the end of Spring and warm enough to swim now. I can't wait for this last horrible day of school to finish so I can meet up with the guys.

I hear the soft thuds from the stairs and look up at Koala, who enters the kitchen. She rests her arms on my shoulders and touches my nose with her nose. '' Good morning honey. ''

I move my face a little and place my lips on hers' and kiss her. She answers it and slowly pulls back after giving me one last peck on my forehead. She takes a seat next to me and starts eating immediately.

'' You're welcome. '' I lean on one arm and look at my girl with a raised eyebrow.

'' Sorry! I'm normally never hungry in the morning, but because I had so much homework yesterday, I had to stay up until 2 AM in the morning! My brain needs energy. '' She has red cheeks and continues eating.

I chuckle and finally start on my baked bacon too.

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><p><span>Saturday morning:<span>

After I had to wake up Ace five times in a row and managed to keep Luffy away from the fridge, we were finally ready to leave. It was an hour long drive and now we're finally here doing the morning exercises. Well, the problem is, as soon as I stopped the car, Luffy opened the door and ran off into the water with all his clothes on. It's still too cold yet, because it's not even six am.. So the lil' guy has to sit with a bath towel wrapped around him, waiting for us to finish.

I love the way the air smells like salt and how your lips become salty too. When I look at the endless waves, it somehow calms me down. I become more relaxed. The sun is covered behind the clouds, so the sand isn't warm yet. It's even still a bit damp from the night.

Ace and I run next to the water for about half an hour and then start on some stretch exercises. After that, when Luffy is finally dry and warmed up a little again, we ask him to come with us. He needs to move now after all, if he doesn't want to catch a cold. We take turns and battle each other. I take notes on who wins and who loses. When each person finishes fifty wrestling matches, I count everything and decide who the winner and loser is. The outcome was kind of expected, since Ace and I are older and have more grown-up bodies than Luffy, thus we have a higher chance to take him down.. Luffy lost the most battles, so he has to pay for breakfast. He searches through all his pockets and even behind the red lint on his Strawhat to find some money. I secretly put a ten dollar bill inside his front pocket without him noticing. He looks a bit sad after all. He really wants that breakfast from that Café we're about to go too.. After Ace suggests to look again in his pockets from his jeans, his face clears up and he happily shows how proud he is to have some money on him after all.

Once inside the café, we decide to buy the food and drinks and take them with us back to the beach. Since Luffy really can't hold back any longer, he attacks the food as soon as the waiter gives it to us. So you can guess we finished the food when we weren't even halfway on the way back.

The sun is getting warmer and the water too. The waves are calm so we decide to swim a marathon. We will swim until we reach a small island in the far distance. There aren't any high waves on this beach, so it's pretty safe to swim in the deep parts here. Though, it wouldn't matter any way since Luffy and Ace don't care about 'dangerous situations', in fact, it only makes them feel even more excited. I must admit that I would like to try to swim in water with bigger waves, it sounds like a challenge, and yeah, I love challenges. We take off our clothes and I put on my blue goggles. Luffy carefully stuffs away his Strawhat in his backpack and runs in his red shorts to the water. Ace runs after him yelling he's going to win this marathon while I chuckle and slowly walk towards the blue wet substance waiting for me to pull me in. When I reach the white foam I can feel the sand under my feet slowly moving as the water is pulling back into the sea. I look at the beautiful view of the sun making it sparkle and how badly I want to jump in. I give in to the wave that is trying to pull me in and walk forward while at the same time, it feels as if the world itself is moving and I am not reaching the deep water at all. Before I know it, the salty water tickles as it covers my body. I make a small dive when the water reaches my belly button. I swim fast to reach my two brothers. We give each other one glance with a big smile on our faces when we set off, battling who will reach the island first and who'll have to pay the delicious dinner at the restaurant called: The Baratie.

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><p><strong>You know it! Follow, leave a review so I know what everyone thinks of it!<br>I'm trying to keep it limited to one universe, and somehow combine every chapter in the end, as in: One story. **

**Until next time! The third theme is called: **_**3. Walk Away**_


	3. Chapter 3

_3. Walk Away_

I was walking to my room, still feeling heavy because of dinner, when my personal guard Pell approached me. He was wearing his Persian styled white clothes. He walked graciously towards me, stopping at an acceptable distance. He smiled at me while placing his hands folded on his back.

'' Princess Vivi, how was dinner? Did the nobles enjoy it? '' Knowing what I was going to answer, he waited nevertheless.

'' Ugh, you know how they are. Never satisfied! Miss Terracotta went all out to make the best dishes possible in this country and yet they were still complaining on how the potatoes didn't match the carrots' color. Have they never learned how to at least act polite? I need a bath and want to go to bed. My head hurts and the dress is tight. '' I know I complained a lot. But that was because I was talking to Pell. He's like an older brother to me. He took care of me ever since I was little and never left my side. I could tell him anything and everything about my little life up until now. Well, little.. isn't the right word. My life has been kind of hectic and a lot happened. Dealing with the paparazzi, staying the polite, sweet and well mannered princess all the freaking time isn't something I chose to do. I accepted to be the inheritor and crowned princess when I was only eight years old. I was still in love with fairy tales and those way too perfect Disney princesses. How was I supposed to know that this was one of the hardest jobs out there in the world? It may sound selfish, but it is hard. Dad didn't really push me or anything. He was actually really laidback. He always let me discover the details about this 'princess being' myself. I don't think that really worked out though.. Instead of acting like a lady I went out to '' The secret base '' to fight with Kohza. I always returned to the palace with sand in my shoes, dirt all over my face and my hair looked like Hagrid's in the books called: Harry Potter. It gave my caretaker Igaram almost a heart attack every time.

Kohza was the leader of our gang. Don't think of it as anything bad, really, we're just a group of friends fooling around in the clock tower, calling it our 'secret base'. I wanted to be the leader at first. But I kept on losing against Kohza and accepted defeat. I called him: Leader ever since then, but after we went on one of our usual dates and called him Leader, people looked at us terrified, because Kohza was hugging me at the moment and thought I was being forced into something. I tried to get used to call him Kohza. Oh, and yes.. he is my fiancé. Although, he is not too happy about it, because if we marry, it means he'll be the next King of the country. He just wants to stay in the city Yuba with his father. I can understand that, having to go through all this myself. He always helped me out and was a big support for me anyway. He agreed in becoming the king, only if I would handle the paperwork. The irony. But yeah, I guess that's the least I could have done for him, right? I mean.. this meant he was going to give up many things just for me and the throne. We announced our marriage a few weeks ago and the paparazzi was following us everywhere. They wanted to know everything about Kohza and wouldn't leave him alone. I guess that was the toughest part of being a royal. You had to keep up a certain reputation, whether you wanted it or not. One wrong word and everyone would be angry with you. If you wear the same dress twice, it would be called a scandal.

I utterly disliked it.

But did I have a choice?

I love my people, I love the country, the culture and the sun.

But this was tiring…

…and now I was dragging Kohza into this too.

He acted like he doesn't mind it and he learned the etiquette and responsibilities really fast. He took it very seriously. I asked him once whether I could do something for him in return.. so he requested me to get out into the villages and get to know the citizens.

And so I did. I first visited Yuba like I did a lot in my childhood. I met Kohza's father after all those years and it was.. painful in a way. He used to be really chubby and had a very loud voice, barking over the silliest of jokes. He always smiled, no matter what. But seeing him after all those years.. I didn't expect him to change so much. He lost so much weight..and his eyes looked tired. He was still smiling though.. but it didn't reach his eyes.. Kohza told me the city Yuba was dying.. The once so rich and resourceful town turned into a desert. It hasn't rained in Yuba for three years. Seeing the once so powerful Yuba like this.. woke something inside me. I ordered several scouts to visit other towns throughout the country Alabasta and give me full reports about the situations there.

The results were surprising. I wanted to see all the cities that were suffering myself and prepared a voyage with Kohza. I decided that on a whim and Igaram tried to stop me. Even dad wasn't too happy about it. Though, he knew it was necessary for the citizens. Maybe it was a way for me to escape the palace. I was tired to having to attend meetings with important people and looking like a perfect doll all the time.

I wanted to walk away.

Away from this suffocating place and my duties.

And Kohza agreed with me. He said if I really wanted to become a good queen who enjoys her job, then I should get to know my people and get close to them. That way, I would appreciate my role much more.

I wanted to take a lot of stuff with me because we weren't sure when we would be back. Kohza, however, wanted me to only take a rucksack with the necessary stuff in it. Suddenly, I realized how much I actually needed… My toothbrush, seriously, I can't leave without that thing, my make-up.. clothes.. because yeah, how to change clothes? I mean.. I'm not going to wear the same underwear for longer than a day, money, pajamas, passport, earrings and gosh, I could go on forever. I looked pleadingly over at Kohza and when he sighed, I knew I should just take a few things with me.

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><p>We visited the first town called Goa. Kohza took me to a small village Fuusha to show me around and have dinner in a regular bar called Partys Bar. I was surprised when I walked in. Every customer was behaving like there was a party going on and the beer was everywhere. It was warm and the smell of alcohol was kind of suffocating after a while. We took place behind the bar itself and a dark green haired woman with a warm smile approached us. She welcomed me and started a conversation with Kohza. Apparently, Kohza visited this bar more often and wanted to show me around in the country. He laid a finger on his lips and asked her to stay quiet about this because no one noticed who I was yet. I was wearing a shawl around half me hair and normal clothes everyone would wear instead of a dress. I must say, it was really comfortable..<p>

I wanted to order a water but Kohza held up his hand and ordered two beer instead. I looked at the yellowish substance with the strange smell and was almost afraid to take a sip. I brought it to my lips and took a little sip with my eyes shut as if I expected something terrible to happen next. The sweet woman behind the bar asked if I ever drank alcohol before and when I shook my head, she looked apologetically at me and passed me an apple cider called: Jillz. She said I would love it and that it was popular among young girls.

Meanwhile some of what seemed Kohza's friends hit him on his back and took a seat next to him. One of them also had green hair like a moss head and golden earrings. Another one had three plates in his arms, don't ask me how that was even possible, and stuffed his mouth with meat while saying: '' It's been a while Serious-san! ''

I chuckled when hearing the nickname because it was true. Kohza was always serious and it was kind of special when he smiled. He introduced me to the two friends. The moss head was called Zoro and the black haired boy was called Luffy. The boy took a seat next to me and looked at me confused.

'' I don't know you, do I? '' He said and I was shocked for a moment, not knowing what to answer. But Kohza saved me on that and just blurted out that I was his fiancé he told them about earlier.

'' Oooohh! You're the one who always managed to give Kohza a hard time during matches! Want to spar with me sometime? I always have battles with my two brothers but never win! You never won either right? But Kohza says you're strong anyway! What about it? ''

'' Y-You don't mind? '' I still wasn't sure yet whether they knew I was the princess, but if not.. then I would like it to stay this way, because I didn't want Luffy to start treating me different right away.

'' Why would I mind? '' The black haired boy looked a little hurt at me.

'' Luffy doesn't discriminate you know. He doesn't care whether you're a girl, granny or even the queen. '' The Moss Head had a bottle of Vodka in his hand and took a long draught from it as if it was water.

My stomach made a jump at the word Queen and I just took another sip from my cider instead of answering. I could see Kohza enjoying this, especially because I didn't know how to interact with the hyperactive boy yet. Hell, I wasn't used to this at all! I was still trying to figure out why Kohza chose this place to visit first instead of the slums in Goa like we planned originally. I intended to help the people out in this country and give aid to them wherever possible. Sitting in a bar with a pokerfaced like puppet-boy and a Moss Head who drank heavy alcohol drinks like it was nothing wasn't part of my plan at all.. But it was Kohza's and he enjoyed it.

Soon enough, more friends of Luffy and Moss Head joined the bar and acted like I was just another normal girl. I think it was because of the alcohol..but I enjoyed it too. I started to talk to an orange haired woman called Nami who apparently loved money and tangerines. I was surprised to hear that she was Luffy's girlfriend even though they didn't act like a couple at all. To be honest, at some point I started to see why they would be the last humans on earth to start acting like a couple. Still, it made them look perfect for each other. Weird huh?

At some point in the evening I even started to drink the beer and Luffy and a man called Usopp with a really long nose started to sing Binks' Sake along with an old man who has an afro head.

Of course, someone had to ruin the what seemed to be the perfect evening. A drunk crossdresser called Bon Clay blocked my way when I wanted to go to the bathroom.

'' Oh sweetheart! I know who you are! It's a pleasure to meet you! But one question..'' He raised his finger but had to hold a pillar with his other arm before he could fall. '' Ah, excuse me.. Well, where was I? ''

'' Uhm.. I really need to go to the bathroom. Please excuse me, I really need to go. '' I tried staying nice and walk sideward to pass him, but he just continued like I didn't talk at all.

'' Why is the princess of Alabasta in a small bar like this? It's a famous bar, sure, but a princess in a regular bar? I'd expect someone like you to eat and drink in a high class restaurant! '' He didn't do it on purpose.. I hoped.. He was drunk.. Wait.. Is that even an excuse?

As expected everyone in the bar turned around because Bon-san kind of screamed it instead of saying it and so everyone near heard him. I didn't have my shawl on anymore, even though I would love to bury myself in it and never take it off ever again, but it was too late. People recognized me and stared at me with their mouths half open. I noticed Kohza wanted to get up to come to me, but Luffy was first. '' So that's why I thought I knew you! But why is everyone so shocked? Is being a princess that weird? ''

Moss Head smirked at me and winked. '' I told you he doesn't discriminate. ''

Nami took my hand and wanted to walk me to the bathroom. I didn't notice my body was all tense until she tried to move me. When I calmed down and washed my face, Nami told me I couldn't go out just yet. The boys were trying to get out the people who tried to take pictures of me. Those were only a few though. When we finally walked out after what seemed an hour Kohza was waiting next to the door. He asked if I was alright and I answered that I was. I mean, physically I was.. but mentally? I was tired. I really enjoyed the evening, but my reputation would always follow me and take the overhand. That evening I realized how much I wanted to be a normal girl like Nami and a careless happy idiot like Luffy. I wanted to be a normal couple with Kohza, without camera's following us everywhere. But I guess that was just impossible right?

Sanji, a smoking cook with curly brows, asked everyone to go to his father's restaurant The Baratie. It was closed right now, so we would be the only ones there. Everyone agreed and Kohza whispered in my ear he would explain everything once we were there. Somehow, I didn't want to let go of him anymore that evening. I wasn't scared, just…tired. He made me feel safe and comfortable, so I wrapped my arms around his arm and didn't let go any longer. We used two cars to get there. One was Franky's small van and the other BMW was Robin-san's car. Kohza and I sat next to each other and I put my head on his shoulder. He caressed my hair while looking out of the window. I really appreciated the way everyone was still treating me like a normal girl after that little incident. It just made realize how many different people there are, even in one small bar.

We had a nice dinner at the restaurant, even though it was already in the middle of the night and the poor Sanji had to receive several kicks from his father's wooden leg. I started to relax again and Luffy even called me one of his Nakama.. Something that means Comrade in Japanese. Robin-san explained that the word Nakama means a lot more than just a comrade to Luffy. It means he sees you as his own family. At first, I didn't know how to react to that, so I buried my face in Kohza's shirt to hide my tears that were welling up in my eyes. After several pokes and shout outs I finally showed up from my little world in Kohza's arms and happily said I really appreciated it and asked if it would really be okay to be their Nakama. Luffy bumped me on the head.. with an annoyed look.. and didn't even bother to answer that question since it seemed that obvious to him. He received two bumps from both Sanji and Nami in return though. Chopper, a fifteen year old boy with brown spiky, messy hair hugged me and said that I would be part of their crew forever.

It was my most favorite night and I would never forget it. Ever. Kohza explained what his intentions were that evening and it seemed that it was a success. Instead of directly going to the poor side of the country, I would get to see the 'rich' side that is actually poor in terms of money. Fuusha isn't rich when you talk about money and sources, but they're rich when you talk about their souls' warmth and the nice atmosphere that welcomes you every time you visit it.

With that vision in mind, I visited the other villages and learned a lot.

After two weeks, Kohza and I came back to the palace and I told my dad everything that happened. And now, here I was.. still complaining to Pell about the nosy nobles, but looking forward to when Luffy and the other Nakama would visit the palace for my birthday. Igaram is going to need a doctor for this one. His heart won't survive them for sure!

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><p><strong>Next chapter is called: <strong>_**4. The Soul.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_4. The Soul_

_I was watching them.._

_Yet they didn't know.._

_I knew what they were doing.._

_Yet they didn't tell me.._

_I called out to them.._

_Yet they couldn't hear me.._

_I was with them.._

_Yet they thought I was gone.. _

I could hear Luffy excitedly talking to Makino about his new friend called Vivi. He was planning to spar with her when he and his other friends would visit Vivi at her home for her birthday.

I was watching from a distance..

Only a few meters away..

Yet their voices always sounded muffled and far away..

..And I couldn't ever reach them.

How many years has it been? Oh yeah.. It's been more than twelve years since they saw me for the last time. I'm standing here, right here, next to them, listening to them, laughing with them, remembering the time when Luffy was still a little brat and Makino.. My sweet Makino… Words couldn't describe how much I missed them. They couldn't see me.. I was invisible to them.

It happened five years, three months and seven days ago. I would never forget that moment. I don't know how to describe the reason I remember that very day. I count it all the time until it makes me want to go mad. I always used to think: _Why would I want to change my past? I'm glad how it turned out._ How wrong I was. I remember every single small detail, every drop of blood, the half broken doll staring at me with black holed eyes, the gunshots.. especially that one gunshot..

The day that ended my life. My future. My hopes. That one shot that took everyone and everything away from me.

And here I was.

Watching what once was my family having one of their normal days in Fuusha Village.

I've been here ever since that day. Not being able to find my peace. Or whatever it was. I didn't get any of this myself. I was just me, still the old me. In my uniform though. With badges and all, even though one of them was missing. My helmet was gone, revealing my sticky red hair. My clothes were engulfed in blood.

Of course I wouldn't want them to see me like this. But I wanted to speak to them so badly. I didn't want them to suffer, but they had to know.

They were still waiting for me to come back. So I could bark out loudly and make jokes about Luffy. I wanted to kiss Makino on her forehead and tell her how much I missed her, drink as much as I wanted and just have fun with everyone.. But that wasn't possible.. It was painful to see them like this. Waiting.. having hope.. While there isn't supposed to be any hope.. and the dead man standing in front of them.. as a mere phantom, a shade, shadow, ghost, however you want to call it.

I couldn't touch them, yet the space around me felt cold. Cold like dead bodies always felt. Cold as ice. People walked through me, but I couldn't feel their warmth. I was a non-existing shadow to the entire world.

I was a mere soul.

Is this what happened to everyone who died or is going to die? Why did I have to go through this pain and misery? Did I do something wrong in my life? Or is it because I didn't want to die at all yet? For years I've been searching for my answer but I never found it.

I knew one thing for sure. I wanted them to know, because it seemed so unfair to them to live without that one answer they needed. Normally families always get messages, phone calls and such from their family members in the army abroad. But somehow the report about me never received Makino. She watched the news every day, reads the newspaper and checks her phone nearly fifteen times a day.

Then there's Luffy. He's always wearing the Straw hat. The hat I got from my late father Roger.

Did he ever go through this? Did he have to watch us? What did he do to find his peace?

Whatever it was, it wouldn't help me, since I couldn't talk to him and would never find out. I had to let Makino know somehow, but I didn't want to scare anyone either.

I saw Luffy leaving the bar. I hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to follow him or not. It was already past midnight and he's had some beers. Not to mention that he was all alone. Didn't Ace teach him not to go outside on your own in the middle of the night when you've had some alcohol? Or at least Sabo?

Knowing I wouldn't be of any help myself, I followed him nevertheless. After Makino made sure Luffy would somehow find his way home, since he's not Zoro.. that guy is an expert in getting lost, and a hug, Luffy finally left the bar and strolled his way back to his house.

Luffy lived about five minutes away from Makino's bar. It was amazing how the boy still managed to get distracted by many things along his way in only five minutes. After having found three different sorts of beetles, played with a house cat, stopped by the twenty-four hour open mini supermarket and bought snacks, he finally knocked on the door, hoping someone would open it at this late hour. Luffy didn't have his own key since he always made sure it got lost somehow.

The door was thrown open by what seemed a huge woman. She had long red curls and a cigarette in her mouth. That woman was Luffy's adoptive mom. Dadan never chose for it to become the three brothers' parent, since Garp kind of forced her. You see.. She isn't quite the sweet hearted woman like Makino was. You could rather say she was the opposite. She wasn't really beautiful, always looked angry, had a criminal past and shouted at the boys constantly. But even after all that, Luffy still always smiled broadly at her and when she was alone, she would smile and have a small tear in the corner of her eye.

Guess the heart makes a person truly beautiful right?

I didn't bother following Luffy into the house, instead, I walked to the nearby graveyard. Once there, I sat before my own grave.

Sitting before your own grave isn't a fun experience, you know? It's more like.. strange.. I don't know how else to explain it. It's like you're watching someone else's grave even though you know it's yours.

I was trying to think of a way to approach Luffy and Makino without noticing the night was long gone and the sun had taken its place above ground, when a young girl stopped next to me and put some flowers on my grave. She had the same hair color as me. She had gray eyes, again, just like me. She was still young. Only about seventeen years old.

I knew this girl.

I knew perfectly well who she was.

I was just trying to deny it I guess..

I couldn't believe she was here.

How did she find this place? How did she know about me?

Where is her mom?

Why didn't I ever know about her?

I knew, but I had to prepare and move for the war abroad.

I found out about this girl at the very last moment.

Ironic, isn't it?

The guilt and pain I felt at that moment was almost unbearable.

This was my daughter.

I never got to meet her, never had the chance to apologize to her, I could never spend time with her. Why didn't I go search for her when I found out about her existence? What was I trying to hide from?

And why doesn't it seem like she's angry with me? She's supposed to despise me, to have a good life with her mom. Was it really that impossible? Just what happened to this girl?

And why does she have such a sad look in her eyes?

_To be continued_

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><p><strong>This girl is my OC for those who wonder. And yes, I will write more about her and Shanks. <strong>

**Oh, I'm so terrible, I know.. I don't regret writing this though *Evil smirk*, I actually enjoyed it, because it felt new and like a challenge to me. And that's what this story is about right?**

_**Next theme: 5. The Muse.**_


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